Felix woke up to one of the most annoying sounds ever, the alarm on his phone. He opened his eyes and reached under his pillow for the small device. He turned it on and tried to focus his blurry vision and the annoying ringing in his ears.

'9:20, math exam today'

Felix groaned and got out of bed, going over to his drawers to find his school uniform, eventually finding it after a few minutes of searching.

He took 5 minutes to get dressed and didn't bother to eat breakfast, or even bring a snack. He was way too stressed today.

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Shadow was sitting in the tree in Felix's yard, tossing cherries up and catching them in her mouth. To her, this was a luxury. Her morning schedule went a bit like this:

6:30: Wake up
7:00: Watch Kittyboy get ready
7:30: Watch Kittyboy leave
7:40: Get dressed
8:00: Parents leave for work
8:20: Rebandage wounds
8:40: Nap
9:40: Sit in the tree and eat cherries

She was planning to make fluffy blueberry pancakes after her cherries but her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door slamming shut, making her nearly drop the cherries she had in her hand. She looked over into Felix's room, putting the cherry she was going to eat back into her hand. 

Felix had gotten home and looked absolutely terrible. His hair was messed up, like he had been trying to pull it out, his clothes were creased, his top buttons were undone, and his jeans were stained white, most likely from some sort of chalk. He was sweating and his face was red, like he'd just been running in the heat even though it was fall.

Shadow gazed at him with a light blush, barely unable to think about anything else than how he looked in this disheveled style, but she had to push her fantasies aside and help her friend. She chose a cherry with a brown stem and flicked it at the window. Felix looked to it but then shook his head, looking sad and almost scared.

Shadow went over and opened his window.

"Hey Felix."
"I'm not in the mood right now, Shadow."

He paced around his room and Shadow sighed and popped another cherry into her mouth, ignoring his whining. 'The one day I intentionally dress up nice, the pretty neighbor ignores me.'

"Hey Felix? I have a question."
"I already told you-"
"Why are you home?"
"What?"
"School ends later, if I'm not mistaken. It was different where I used to live, but surely that's true here, right?"

Felix didn't answer for a few seconds, looking at her with confusion. Shadow barely prevented the color and pupil in her uncovered eye from turning into hearts, but she wanted to be his personal problem solver.

"Felix, why are you home?"

He sighed an leaned on the windowsill, looking down at the yard.

"I had an anxiety attack during my exam, nothing important, just my nerves fucking me over."

Shadow felt her concern for him rising. She'd had a few anxiety attacks before, and they were awful. Who would've thought that her cool guy neighbor had anxiety?

"Are you home alone, Felix?"
"Yeah."
"Do you wanna come over?"
"Thanks, but no thanks, I'm pretty unstable right now."
"Okay, want a cherry?"
"Sure."

She tossed over a cherry at him and he caught it, nibbling on the sweet red fruit.

"Anxiety, huh?"
"Don't get smug about it, Shadow."
"I'm not, I'm just thinking about our first voyage together."
"I told you, I'm not going on any illegal voyages."

Shadow closed her eyes and thought for a moment, adjusting her black rose crown. Felix was surprised at how there weren't bees buzzing around her head.

"What if I told you it was legal?"
"No."
"Safe?"
"Nope."
"Away from all humanity?"
"... Maybe."

Shadow smiled and slapped her hands together.

"Great! Meet me back at this window at 9!"
"9 at night!?"
"Yep! Wear something nice for me, okay?"
"I will literally wear a trash bag with holes for my limbs."
"... Please don't..."
"I was kidding."

She giggled, they shook on it, and both of them went back to what they were doing.

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Felix had settled on a leather jacket, a white V-neck, and jeans, nothing special. He opened his window to see a familiar girl gazing at him from the tree, smiling. She was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and red cloth pants that only reached down to her knees, her hair wasn't in a ponytail anymore and it was slightly damp, like she had taken a shower a while before. She hadn't bothered with much jewelry but had worn a black choker with a glittering white sapphire hanging from it.

"Hey, Kittyboy."
"Evening, Shadow."
"Ready for an adventure?"
"I guess."

She swung her legs over the windowsill and Felix leaned against the wall next to it. There was no way he'd risk his life on a midnight journey with a practical stranger. But before he could say anything, she jumped down, landing gracefully on a thick branch on the tree and looking up at the surprised male gazing down through the window.

"Are you mad!?"
"Yes."

For once she was dead serious, a dangerous glint in her eye against the darkness of the night.

"I am not jumping from a second-floor window!"
"Please Felix?"
"Nope!"
"I'll catch you if you fall!"

Felix hesitated for a few moments, clinging to the window frame. Did he trust her? Absolutely not.

So why was he obeying?

He got up onto the windowsill, preparing to jump, meeting her heterochromatic eyes, one blue, one red. She looked so different from this angle, so beautif-

Slip

Grab

Thud

Felix felt himself falling and hitting something else. His hand reached out for something to grab and it found something warm. With fingers.

Wait. Fingers?

He looked up and met Shadow's eyes again and pulled himself up onto the branch next to her with her arm wrapped protectively around his waist. She seized this moment to pull him closer and jump down to the ground. Felix pulled away blushing a bit and checked to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"Thanks.."
"No problem, I had a feeling you'd suck at sneaking around."

She didn't let him defend himself before she skipped away, making him break into a light jog to keep up.

"So where are we going anyway?"
"A place only I know is."
"Which is?"
"Near. Now shut up and follow me."

She went towards the local forest, past a sign saying 'Starbank Forest' in white chalk. Felix followed until he heard a sound like a stream. He'd never been in the forest before, so he didn't know if it had a stream or not.

But they didn't.

Shadow pushed aside a leafy branch blocking her path and her eyes lit up when they got to her special place. 

A waterfall.

Felix's eyes widened as he followed Shadow, sitting down on a large rock near the edge of the rushing water.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is."
"I found this place the day we moved into town."
"That soon?"
"Yep, I thought this would be a good stargazing spot."
"It's always the stars with you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I wanna be one someday."
"But you're already a star."

She blushed a bit, moving a strand of hair out of her face and humming a little tune she made up right then.

"So this is your new safe haven?"
"Yep, this is a good home for me."
"What about the place next to mine?"
"That isn't a home, that's a house. Home is where the heart is."

She gazed up at the full moon, which was reflected in her eyes.

"How about I share this safe haven?"
"What?"
"You said you're unstable, and so am I."
"So?"
"You're the only other one who knows about this place. So how about we make this our place?"

She held out her hand for him to accept. He hesitated for a few seconds before taking it, her ice-cold touch soon becoming comforting.

"Yeah... Our place."